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Monster Rules
Universal Monster Template When building your own monsters, the following template can be used to build a monster’s stats. HEALTH: Monsters, instead of having Stamina, have Health. They do not take stamina damage from their own off-turns or abilities. Armour, for monsters, is simply added to bulk health. SPEED: Monster speed is a very powerful method of changing a fight’s dynamic. Fast monsters outflank and outmatch, while slow monsters can be overwhelmed. ABILITIES: These are monster ablities. These are various and sundry. The more abilities a monster has, the harder it is for players (yes, players) to figure out how to fight them. PHASES: For bosses, amalgamate multiple monsters’ health into separate individual phases, where bosses change their behaviour and style. INTELLIGENCE: In terms of behaviour and tactics, creatures will be harder to fight with more intelligence. While all but the dullest animal will retreat when overwhelmed or outnumbered, smarter opponents might coordinate, flank, retreat, and even heal. NOTE: Intelligence refers to tactical/combat intelligence. A brilliant scientist who doesn’t know how to swing a sword would rate low; a non-speaking monster that thirsts for flesh and flesh alone might well rate quite high. DAMAGE: The roll used for a monster’s attacks – weapon rolls, evocation, anything reasonable. DIFFICULTY: This represents the number of adventurers to monsters recommended. Civilians and non-fighting NPCs are worth half an adventurer; fighting NPCs are worth the same as an adventurer and should defeat enemies proportionally to their share unless directed otherwise. To determine monster stats, start with the row with your desired Difficulty. Along the same row, for every monster stat (Health, Speed, Abilities, Intelligence, Damage) you increase by one, you must decrease another stat by one (or vice versa). This is to determine a FAIR fight. Adventurers should expect one unfair fight (monsters’ favour) for every two fair fights, and two unfair fights (adventurers’ favour) for every fair fight. As a Narrator, try and use unfair fights to tune your players’ confidence – they should have enough tough or retreat- worthy fights such that they’re cautious and insistent on preparation, but enough easy or trivial fights to keep them confident and proactive. EXAMPLE: Building a Fair Encounter. You have three adventurers, one fighting NPC, two non-fighting NPCs, and one Civilian. Effectively, this equals 5.5 adventurers – this rounds up to 6. This time, you want a showcase fight - huge beefy guardian, two mid-range guards, and a horde of tiny super-fast monsters. The beefy guardian counters 2 “adventurers”, both your guards counter one “adventurer” together, and three of your “adventurers” will fight nine swarmers. Your guardian starts in Row 6. You want this guardian swinging hard and moving slow, so you drop down 4 rows in Speed and jump up 4 rows in Damage. Your guardian is somewhat clever and resilient, so you jump up two ranks in Intelligence and Health, dropping your Abilities down by four. Altogether: your guardian has 200 Health, Speed 4/0, no special abilities, is about as clever as any soldier, and swings 4d8+8. Your guards start in Row 3. Their stats kinda suck – this encounter might have been tougher in concept. Deciding it isn’t worth it, you swap these 2 guards for 3 swarmers, the encounter still balanced. Your swarmers start in Row 2. They’re dirt-weak, too dumb to do anything but swarm and eat to their own doom, and don’t hit hard – you drop your monster’s Health, Intelligence, and Damage one column, gaining three points to pump into Speed – 7/3. Kinda slow still – instead, you pump one point into Speed and two into Abilities, to have 1-2 abilities – instead of an attack, the swarmers can consume an off-turn to leap 10 squares and attack whatever they hit. As an end result, you have your three Adventurers, fighting NPC, two non-fighting NPCs, and Civilian fighting one guardian and twelve swarmers; choosing to change the monsters instead of have the encounter be tougher than normal. STAT NUMBER: To save space, monsters will have a shorthand stat notation. Using the Universal Monster Template, the stat references the relevant stat’s row. As such, monster stats can be easily transcribed. EXAMPLE: The monsters above can be written in stat numbers. The guardian has stats 8/2/2/8/10 and difficulty 6, the swarmers have stats 1/3/4/1/1 and difficulty 2. Asymmetric Balance, and NPCs Fighting NPCs This game’s combat and monster stats are designed not to be 1:1 with player stats. While a 1:1 monster (difficulty 4) is slightly weaker than the average adventurer, this assumes fair fights. In the game’s world, monsters are tougher on average, more numerous, and better-equipped than adventurers and civilians. To throw fair, but more hardcore-seeming fights at your players, don’t be afraid to give them allies. In a fight in a village, the town guards might rush to help the players. Allied NPCs have health as determined by a die – a d6, flipped to 6, is your typical soldier. When attacked by a trivial enemy, they take no damage. When attacked by a typical enemy, they take one damage, or no damage with a defensive off-turn. When attacked by a strong enemy, they take two damage, or one damage with a defensive off-turn. Allied NPCs always deal 25 damage, unless otherwise specified. When they hit (or go below) 0 health, they have exactly 25 health left (unless otherwise specified), are bleeding, and will usually try and stay alive. Allied NPCs should have no less than 3 health and no more than 10 by default. RANDOM ENCOUNTERS: When encountering creatures, roll 2d6. This determines the baseline Difficulty stat of the randomly encountered monster. If this is a 6 or lower, roll 2d6 to determine the number of creatures encountered. If this is a 7 or higher, roll 1d6 instead. Magic and the Planes This is a world unlike our own – while it shares our physical laws, it has its own magical ones. Higher Magic The Truth The full nature of the universe is not understood in-game. This universe is abandoned within the multiverse. There are three forms of Higher Magic: Fate, Positive Divinity, and Negative Divinity. Divinity is magic from positive and negative gods, and is dead in all forms in this universe – the spells can be recreated and cast, but nothing happens. Fate is manipulated by an infinite, multidimensional creature – it is not sentient, and performs actions at random and without purpose. What’s Known Ritual magic affects Fate. Divine magic doesn’t work. Fate works through unknown means, seemingly related to the pervasive field of magic in the world. Universal Magic The Truth All four planes contain three superimposed magical energies: The Ethereum, a gas-like cloud that inhabits things and grants them fundamental non-physical essences and properties like “happiness”, “bad vibes”, “healing”, or others – this is what Alchemists extract from materials, leaving behind the non-magical physical item; the Weave, the fine threads of magic that stretch throughout the world – these are the many thin feelers of Fate, that Ritual magic manipulates; and the Elements, which are understood theoretically but are very primitive in practice. Each plane has a fourth, similar energy unique to itself. What's Known All things have magical properties, Alchemy is the practice of extracting them – alchemical science is the theory and study involved in advancing alchemical practice and extracting more exotic magical properties. Ritual magic affects Fate. Casting Elemental magic requires learning to harness the Elements through specific intersectional emotional states. There are four primary Elements tied to four non-emotions – Fire (rage, aggression, passion, drive), Water (vulnerability to emotion, fluidity, social whims), Air (calm, stillness, control), and Earth (groundedness, awareness, sense of space). Once learning to harness these elements, the six Secondary Elements are formed by finding a middle ground between two elements – there’s Cold (water and air), Poison (water and earth), Acid (fire and water), Lightning (air and fire), Pain (fire and earth), and Force (air and earth). Opposed elements annihilate (fire vs. water, cold vs. Pain, etc) in a flash of light. Planar Magic The Truth Every plane has an innate essence that controls its magical behaviour, as a consistent and everpresent haze. The Mortal plane is the plane of change, death, and time. The Celestial Plane is the plane of ego, benevolence, and control. The Demonic Plane is the plane of war, suffering, and power. The Dark Plane is the plane of secrets, manipulation, and dreams. The universe itself is formed of two flat physical planes – both infinite in width and length and 4200km thick, one of positive mass, one of negative mass. The universe is a four-dimensional ring (while infinite sideways and back and forth, going up 10000km from one side the positive plane brings you to the negative plane, and going up 14200km from there brings you to the opposite side of the first plane. The Mortal plane is on the side of the positive plane facing the Celestial Plane above, on the negative plane; the Demonic plane is on the underside of the Mortal plane (thus positive), and the Dark plane is on the underside of the Celestial plane (thus negative). Note that the negative planes are exotic matter, not antimatter. This was kept safe by the gods, and currently, the universe is stable. Sufficient warping to the mortal or celestial plane (significant enough to render the universe unstable) destroys everything. Non-mortals do not experience linear time – while they have some degree of free will, timelines can only be altered by the will and agency of mortals. Until the end of time, the four planes are destined as follows: the mortal plane provides advancement, change, and progress; the celestial plane empowers the mortal plane and fosters its life; the demonic plane weakens the mortal plane and destroys history and memory; the dark plane maintains balance with minimal interference in the absence of divinity. Non-mortal creatures understand this edict, are compelled by it, and act to enforce their role – mortals do not know, and act with free will. What’s Known Each plane is a distinct place. The Mortal Plane is made of Mortal Magic, and the other planes of their magic. Legends say that in the world, there are places where you can fade between them. Demons move like people do – dark and celestial creatures either stand on ceilings, hover upside-down, or wear heavy boots and armour to stay upright. While grasping a celestial or dark creature is possible, they seem to very faintly repulse the touch. Demons and Dark creatures aren’t always evil (but usually are); Celestials aren’t always good (but usually are). There are divine and fate planes, and other worlds, according to Elven records, but this can’t be proven. There are immortal dragons on the three other planes, the mortal dragons are extinct. The other planes have their own ecosystems, biomes, maps, and lands. Celestials, dark creatures, and demons have their own societies, and hate each other. Mortal Creatures On the Mortal Plane, many natural and magical creatures roam. Mortal creatures live and die, and rely upon an ecosystem to eat and survive. Monsters Monsters are instanced aberrations of nature. Though some monsters are more common than others, monsters do not inhabit any given species – their role is as a hyperpredator, periodically arising within a given ecosystem to ravage and destroy. They are mutant creatures of horrifying visage, host to poisonous stings and spits of acid and a great number of other odd capabilities. Example Monsters Legs the Leech, 12/11/7/4/11, difficulty 9 (7:2, or one of these vs. 3-4 adventurers). Ten-metre-long eight-limbed leech; nocturnal, fully amphibious. Abilities include: ability to swim and breathe underwater, a tail whip (one creature, from behind, hurls them back 5 squares), and can swallow creatures whole (automatic acid attack every turn; must be killed for swallowed creature to escape). Represented by a trail of six tokens (3x3 head, two 2x2 body sections, three 1x1 tail tokens). Owlwolf, 3/7/3/9/6, difficulty 6 (2:1). Large wolves, whose false jaws unhinge to reveal an owl-shaped false body from within the throat. While fully concealed, the owl protrusion scouts in stealth. Owlwolves are extremely intelligent, and seem to have a rudimentary understanding of tradertongue. When attacking, they resume the shape of a wolf, and fight as such. Haven Worm, 12/1/4/1/12, difficulty 6 (2:1). Massive worm from the plains, attempts to swallow prey (automatic acid attack every turn; must be killed for swallowed creature to escape). Abilities include: burrow (the worm is several 3x3 tokens – on first emergence, place one; when burrowing, place another; when emerging again, place another, and so on. The worm is 25 squares long, and movement is counted vertically before it turns to burrow – this movement determines how far away it can both attack and re-enter. Both ends can attack. Swallows targets (see Legs). Beasts Beasts are superpredators; unusual and monstrous creatures that live and breed as their own species – where monsters happen out of nowhere and from within other populations, beasts exist on their own. Example Beasts Goblin, 2/5/4/7/2, difficulty 4. A squat, suspicious creature; though bipedal and capable of complex tasks, they do not socialize. If treated well, goblins will provide a handful of seemingly random chores – wise villagers from the provinces are known to keep goblins to untangle ropes and mix dough. However, when mistreated, goblins are extremely dangerous and cruel. Abilities include: the ability to disappear and reappear with a loud crack. Goblins turn invisible, but their presence can be felt when invisible as a faint magical hum (within two squares). Gremlin, 6/10/10/10/1, difficulty 8. Identical to goblins at birth, gremlins are why goblins should be lured and not bred – gremlins will sneak into goblin nests to leave behind their children. Never growing particularly large, gremlins are cackling creatures that live to cause havoc. Too small to hurt most, gremlins will try and avoid a fight at all costs, instead feeding on household pets. Abilities include: supernatural reflexes (four off-turns every turn), the ability to understand rudimentary language, and the ability to use many household items... from forks and spoons to alchemy and artillery. Troll, 8/3/4/4/4, difficulty 5. Almost triple the size of a goblin, trolls balloon rapidly in growth, to a height of almost five metres tall. Trolls seem to have an inexplicable hatred of all structures – supernaturally (or psychologically) driven to shred anything from a doghouse to a wagon to a city wall. If allowed to destroy, trolls will pulverize debris into crumbs and devour it, slowly gaining a thick rock-like plating on their skin, made of cellulose from wood and small bits of silica and iron from rock and metal. Abilities include: extremely weighty punch (all attacks push back targets 7 squares). Animals Within the mortal ecosystem are common animals – horses, elk, dogs, tigers, and the like. Animals will often only attack people out of desperation or panic. People And then there’s people like you and me. People will have an Intelligence no lower than 5 and a Speed no higher than 10 without some sort of unusual influence (see Transformations). The behaviour of people is often complexly motivated or bafflingly inexplicable. Celestial Creatures From the Celestial Plane, creatures have been known to leak – beings of sky, from glowing sunlight creatures to airy and dim creatures of sky-dark, with universally prodtruding antlers, and colours of white, pale blue, gold, and dark grey. Celestial creatures are known to be egotistical, narcissistic, domineering, and off-hand with mortal life and whims; alongside a throughline of help and benevolence, and a consistent aversion to lying. Celesials, as immortals, to not eat, drink, breathe, sleep, or die. All Celestials killed are reborn in a year and a day, banished back to their plane. Celestial Beasts Beasts from the Celestial plane are often large and proud, taking forms that are beautiful and alluring rather than horrific or imposing. Often initially non-hostile, Celestial beasts almost always have a goal to pursue. While mortal beasts might often make use of acid and poison, Celestial beasts more often utilize cold and lightning to harm their foes. Example Celestial Beasts The Blue Stag, 9/12/7/9/12, difficulty 10. A hulking, faintly glowing, pale blue stag with golden antlers. Worshipped by a small cult near Delta as a nature guardian. Abilities include: disappears in a bolt of lightning (5x5 area), reappears similarly the next turn. The Morningstar, 3/10/3/12/3, difficulty 7. A golden tabby cat, with pale blue eyes and toe-beans. Cultivates followers seemingly worldwide. Travels via unknown means – always seems to escape, rather than teleport, from situations. Reports say the Morningstar’s presence enthralls and dominates those around them, gradually aligning the unwitting to its will. The Wolfmother, 12/12/10/11/12, difficulty 12. A hulking wolf, wreathed in perpetual golden flame, represented by a 3x3 token. They say she’s gathering an army. Abilities include: a fire breath attack (cone), and a vast 20-square leap that impacts with a fireball (10x10 AOE). Celestial Spirits Spirits from the Celestial plane often form as manifestations of starlight, seeking to use and influence mortals, for their own greater purposes. Example Celestial Spirits The Fallen Star, 1/1/1/12/1, difficulty 4. Takes the form of a small child, fainly glowing with a pale starlight. Trying to find their way home. Uncommon for a celestial, the Fallen Star seems to inhabit the dark plane, and cultivates followers who follow them into a dream, to help bring them home. “Home” doesn’t seem to be anywhere specific. Sunbeam, 5/5/5/5/5, difficulty 5. Takes the form of a semi-translucent golden ghost, turns invisible when it’s not sunny. Cheery sort who helps travellers on the road. Rainmaker, 7/4/3/10/10, difficulty 7. Takes the form of a pale blue knight with a longsword and chain hauberk, composed of water and dark cloud. Attacks with thunder, lightning, sleet, and the longsword. Refuses to return the rain to the deserts west of the Great River, where they were stolen. Celestial Titans Tens to hundreds of metres tall, the Celestial titans tower over their counterparts. They are rare creatures, feudalistic autocrats who seek to enrich themselves and their dominions. Alistair Alistair, Phase 1; 6/6/6/6/6, difficulty 6 (total difficulty 22). Standing 23 metres tall, Alistair is often too dismissive of attackers to bother arming, armouring, or clothing himself. In this form, he is largely nude, and fights with his bare hands – lazily and lackadaisially, his skin resisting most blows. His abilities include: full elemental lightning casting, and a double damage crush on a grappled target. He is represented by a 3x3 token in all forms. Alistair, Phase 2; 9/9/9/9/9, difficulty 9 (total difficulty 22). When an enemy lasts long enough, he summons his arms and armour – a golden breastplate vambraces, and greaves, with a wand and rapier. His abilities include: full casting, a circular lightning-cleave (9x9 AOE centered on self), and a kick that hurls targets 10 squares away. Alistair, Phase 3; 12/3/3/5/12, difficulty 7 (total difficulty 22). Suddenly threatened with the end of his timeline, Alistair summons full pale blue plate and a tower shield, with a warhammer. In this form, he fights only with melee, panicked and desperate. Celestial Dragons The immortal Celestial dragons fly and twist through the air, breathing great clouds of frost and charges of lightning. Able to fade into sky, they very rarely reach the Mortal plane. The Mountaintop Moon Dragon The Mountaintop Moon Dragon, Phase 1; 5/5/5/5/5, difficulty 5 (total difficulty 17). By default kind, nonhostile, and pacifistic, the nearly hundred-metre-long moon dragon will only lazily fight back with his claws, or spit lightning (like a dart spell). Abilities include: flight, ability to hover. The Mountaintop Moon Dragon, Phase 2; 12/12/12/12/12, difficulty 12 (total difficulty 17). When truly threatened, the dragon unleashes his wrath. Abilities include: an 8x8 lightning or cold breath attack, a tail whip, full flight and the ability to hover, ability to destroy and alter terrain, and an artillery-grade single-target bite (the target must make a death roll, all within 5 squares take shrapnel damage; this includes a one-turn telegraph of the dragon lunging. If this attack succeeds, it is not used again). Dark Creatures From the Dark Plane, tendrils of influence spread through all the planes faintly – on the mortal plane, roaming creatures help empower the will of the darkness. Dark creatures very often have a singular true form, but shapeshift to best suit the situation – often, with tentacles, inky black, silver, ash-grey, lavender, and a deep navy blue among whatever form they find. Dark creatures are known to be manipulative and of ill motive, often luring mortals to some gruesome end, or to be agent in some sequence of events that quickly grow beyond their control; alongside helping the ostracized and downtrodden, and frequently defending small children from celestials, demons, and their fellow mortals. Dark Beasts Beasts from the Dark plane are often shy and reclusive, using trickery and deception in lieu of combat – as well as acid and pain. Example Dark Beasts Darkling, 4/4/4/4/4, difficulty 4. In their true form, they are simply masses of inky black ooze. However, when hunting, they often use their telepathy to assume the forms of people known to others nearby. Darklings are sizzled to a crisp by sunlight, emerging from the earth at night to collect corpses, filth, and garbage – though they don’t seem to feed on it, as they attack people for food. Although they have low-level telepathy, they have animalistic intelligence, and don’t understand much of what they percieve. Oculus, 1/11/1/1/1, difficulty 3. In their true form, these are small mantis-like insects with huge eyes. They utilize their stature to swiftly and quietly move to and fro, hiding behind anything from wagons to trees to fences. Their eyes glow a pale lavender when they so choose, and use the threat in the dark to push their prey into the path of stronger creatures, to feast on the carrion. The Cave Thing, Phase 1; 4/4/4/4/4, difficulty 4 (total difficulty 15). A hulking, indeterminate mass of slimy tentacles, this creature creeps through the darkness, trying to convince creatures to delve deeper and deeper. Though slow to move, it seems to be able to extremely quickly dissolve and reform elsewhere. The Cave Thing, Phase 2; 10/10/7/12/12, difficulty 11 (total difficulty 15). When prey proves feisty enough, the thing stops being lazy, and exposes its true hunger. The tentacles fall away, revealing a central mass – a human baby’s head with a huge, all-devouring maw with several ranks of sharpened, leech-like teeth. Hyperintelligent, it tries to toy with its prey as long as possible, driving them to mad desperation before closing for the kill. Its abilities include a grapple... with any one of hundreds of tentacles. And a bite to swallow prey (automatic acid attack every turn; must be killed for swallowed creature to escape). Dark Spirits The spirits manifesting on the mortal plane often take the form of smoke, ash, or roiling shadow, rather than anything concrete. When they must manifest physically, they often simply condense, rather than picking any particularly showy or discernable form beyond the vaguely person- shaped. Example Dark Spirits Rumourer, 1/7/3/12/1, difficulty 5. A smoky shape of a person, this creature appears only at night, seeking to convince the unwitting that it is the ghost of a brutal murder – really trying to feed on the anguish of the accused. Watcher, 3/3/3/3/3, difficulty 3. A creature in a gangly, humanoid form with a large, creeping smile, the watcher wants to watch people sleep. As long as you pretend to be asleep and keep your eyes shut (it isn’t super clever), it will keep your camp safe at night. Only one watcher ever watches, but they are never in groups smaller than ten or twelve. Shadow, 1/1/1/1/1, difficulty 1. A shadow slowly climbs onto the area you can barely scratch in the middle of your back, and waits for you to get up and walk around. Once you’re alone, it taps on your shoulders and hides, feeding on your panic. Dark Titans Tens to hundreds of metres tall, Dark titans are gigantic and towering – when visible. Perhaps more terrifying than the true visage of a dark titan is their horrid ability to silently flow in clouded shadow despite their size, creatures of grand stature almost imperceptible in the same room while darkness reigns. Them Them (The Weaver), Phase 1; 8/8/8/12/8, difficulty 9 (total difficulty 18). A fifty-metre-tall spider. It shoots binding webs from a distance as its underlings attempt to overwhelm its enemies. It has powerful telepathy – this telepathy is impossible to resist within its line of sight. Legend says that if you speak its name, it hears you. Them (The Weaver), Phase 2; 6/12/3/12/12, difficulty 9 (total difficulty 18). As the end of its timeline approaches, it gets frantic, desperate, and sloppy... but extremely fervent and powerful in its telepathic power. It can hear all the characters’ “thoughts” - that is, all dialogue spoken by players at the table, out of game. Dark Dragons The immortal Dark dragons swim in the abyssal depths, slumbering... or hunting. Invisible in sunlight, Dark dragons are rare on the mortal plane, only appearing to quickly complete a purpose and return from whence they came. Phlegoth Phlegoth, Lord of Filth, The Enricher, Phase 1; 4/12/4/11/9, difficulty 8 (total difficulty 28). When lazing within his lair, Phlegoth hides in the shadows – breathing a poisonous haze (5x5 within 10 sq) from the caverns where he climbs and swims. Instead of fighting head-on, he commands his darklings to swarm. Phlegoth, Lord of Filth, The Enricher, Phase 2; 12/12/3/6/12 (light) or 6/9/6/12/12 (dark), difficulty 9 (total difficulty 28). If a real challenge presents itself, he will arise, emerging into the open air. If it is bright out, he is translucent and smoky. If it is dark, he is fully opaque and solid. In sunlight, he cannot use his magic, but his smoky body is resilient to harm and swift to move. In darkness, he solidifies and slows, but has a powerful breath attack (7x7 within 20; acid, poison, or fire). Phlegoth, Lord of Filth, The Enricher, Phase 3; 12/12/12/4/12, difficulty 11 (total difficulty 28). As his end grows near, he will insist the party stop fighting – if the darklings don’t hunt, the thing they feed hunts. He says this with abject terror. If the threat will not abate, he fights furiously. His abilities include: a breath attack (9x9, fire/acid/poison) and an artillery-grade single-target bite (the target must make a death roll, all within 5 squares take shrapnel damage; this includes a one-turn telegraph of the dragon lunging. If this attack succeeds on two targets, it is not used again). Demonic Creatures From the Demon Plane, creatures of bloodshed and terror emerge. From the famed towering fire-demons, to the winged ice demons, and stealthy sea demons – these creatures are beings of violence and fervour. Universally, they have goat horns and extra eyes – they are often muscular, covered in brownish fur, or with warpaint-like bright green and red patterning on their skin. Demons are known to be direct and uncompromising – they seek violence, victims, or to strike the spark of bravery in mortal spirits. Demonic Beasts Demonic beasts are often hulking and warlike, adorned with tusks and armour and razor-sharp claws. Demonic beasts are very frequently hostile and violent, but an allied demonic beast can be a destructive tool of battle. Example Demonic Beasts Ice Demon, 3/7/4/3/6, difficulty 5. A flying, furry, insectoid creature that inhabits frigid places. Water Demon, 5/5/5/3/7, difficulty 5. A creature with a leech-like head atop a series of tentacles it uses to move around. Its abilities include: ten tentacles with which to attack/grapple, full ability to swim and walk on land, and a 10-square leap (from the water only). Charger Demon, 6/10/4/4/7, difficulty 7. A four-limbed boar-like creature that breathes fire (like casting a cone), and carries demons into war. Demonic Spirits Demonic spirits travel as acrid smoke, roiling flame, or pale green mist. It serves demons to be fearsome to look upon, and these spirits are direct in their sadism – forcing themselves into the lungs of their victims, blinding and choking people, twisting their limbs to harm their allies. Demons are not domineering – an allied demonic spirit is perfectly content sitting in a bottle on your belt or following orders, so long as your will and power is one worth respecting. Example Demonic Spirits Ash Demon, 4/1/4/1/12, difficulty 5. Slow-moving spirits of ash that invade the lungs of their opponents (on a successful grapple check – must make a Brawn roll to expulse the spirit), choking them with fire and poison from within. Mist Demon, 1/1/6/12/12, difficulty 7. Conniving and clever spirit, seeking a willing symbiote to inhabit, in order to wreak destruction and bloodshed. As a cloud, it is easily broken and dispersed. As a symbiote, it inhabits another creature – granting to them both its intelligence and observations, and an acidic breath weapon that acts independently of them. Sludge Demon, 6/1/1/9/1, difficulty 4. Surprisingly glib and charming, sludge demons coalesce from pits of tar – they are invulnerable to fire, dreadfully flammable, and seek only to burn the world. They are, however, willing to deal equitably and sustainably, offering their power for obedience. Sludge demons can do little on their own – but a mortal can grant them power with the spark of a match. Demonic Titans Standing tens to hundreds of metres tall, demonic titans wage constant war on the demonic plane, in the ever-frothing war of destruction and reformation. A titan, in war, is at their happiest; laying waste to legions at the end of their weapons. Giant-Killer Giant-Killer, Phase 1; 9/9/3/9/12, difficulty 9 (total difficulty 30). Standing fifty metres tall, Giant-Killer craves war, and seeks to aim his wrath at those tall enough to pose a challenge. He is armed and ready at all times – wearing brigandine made of giant skull plates. He swings a great maul. Giant-Killer, Phase 2; 10/10/7/10/12, difficulty 10 (total difficulty 30). As the challenge grows greater, he feeds on the fervor of combat, growing stronger and stronger. He hurls his maul aside and summons two great blades of flame and sharpened iron, fighting harder and faster, bringing agony to all who meet his gaze (Pain attack, any distance, line of sight). Giant-Killer, Phase 3; 12/10/10/10/12, difficulty 11 (total difficulty 30). Nearing his demise, Giant-Killer seeks another destruction – no matter the loss of power, a chance to learn another weakness for when his true purpose is to be achieved. Tossing weapons aside, he fights with his bare hands – a two-handed slam (telegraphed one turn in advance, he balls his fist together and brings them hurling down) targets a 3x3 area with a death roll, dealing shrapnel damage in a 9x9 area. This attack is used until it has damaged at least one person on a hit, on three separate hits. Demonic Dragons As the earth, seas, and skies of the demon plane rush with combat, they are drummed on by the beat of great draconic wings. Reveling in suffering and destruction, demonic dragons have not been seen on the mortal plane since the apocalypse – and even one getting through threatens similar destuction. Magical Creatures Across the planes, magic itself has an influence all its own. It spawns things, and changes the nature of those it does not create. Elementals When someone (or something) dies, it leaves behind a spectral echo of its presence, in the element most suiting to the emotional state of its creation. This echo may bear resemblance to the dead, but elementals are known to be created by death, and are not the spirits of the dead. Example Elementals Acid Snail, 1/1/1/1/1, difficulty 1. A calcified shell inhabitid by a bright greenish sludge, acid snails sneek to consume things in fizzly, bubbly ways. Poison Wraith, 4/4/4/4/4, difficulty 4. A purplish cloud, forming the roiling smoky visages of the dead. Poison wraiths invade the lungs of their victims (on a successful grapple check – must make a Brawn roll to expulse the spirit), choking them with poison from within). Fire Knight, 8/3/7/9/9, difficulty 8. Charred and seared remains hovering in an aura of roaring flame, fire knights fight like heavily-armoured battlemages. Manifestations In the great expanse of magical processes that are not understood, there is a mechanism that creates strange and aberrant creatures of magical nature. Example Manifestations Echo, (uses player stats). A manifestation of guilt and unresolved problems, an Echo takes the form of someone, repeating their actions as of exactly a year and a day prior. It attacks its chosen echoed target on sight. Mystery Box, (no stats). A manifestation of impulse and greed, a mystery box is a perfect, grey cube. It appears and disappears from locations, centered around a particular individual. Everyone who touches the mystery box disappears. If the target does not touch the mystery box or look at it for a year and a day, its contents (victims) are returned as they entered with no memory of the missing time, and the box disappears, leaving behind a single copper coin. Transformations From rites gone afoul and deals gone awry to ill powers taken at known risk and fates unchosen and undeserved, transformations warp their host into an unnatural creature, often slowly losing the visage of who they once were. Lifedrinkers Lifedrinker, (unique stats, extremely difficult). From a ritual long since resolved, Lifedrinkers are former people who retain their prior visage and self – but can only heal by harvesting the life of others. They can do this clearly – opening an unnaturally vast jaw of multi-rowed teeth to inhale vital fluids – or subtly, supernaturally causing harm to their victims. Lifedrinkers can be killed as normal, but always find a way to reform.